Hula painted frog
| Hula painted frog | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Alytidae |
| Genus: | Latonia |
| Species: | L. nigriventer |
| Binomial name | |
| Latonia nigriventer (Mendelssohn & Steinitz, 1943) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Discoglossus nigriventer Mendelssohn and Steinitz, 1943 | |
The Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer) is a species of frog endemic to the Lake Hula marshes in northern Israel. It is the only living member of the genus Latonia, which is otherwise known from fossils from Europe spanning from the Oligocene through Pleistocene. The Hula painted frog was thought to be extinct as a result of habitat destruction during the 1950s until the species was rediscovered in 2011.
The draining of Lake Hula and its marshes in the 1950s was thought to have caused the extinction of this frog, along with the cyprinid fish Mirogrex hulensis and cichlid fish Tristramella intermedia. Only five individuals had been found prior to the draining of the lake. Environmental improvements in the Hula reserve have been cited as a possible reason for the frog's reemergence.